Lists

A list item is a paragraph with a marker in front of it — a bullet, or a number or letter that Writer works out from the items above it. The list controls are in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

Make a list

1. Put the caret in the paragraph that should be the first item.
2. On the Home tab, click Bulleted list or Numbered list.
3. Type the item, then press Return to add the next one.

Each new paragraph you make with Return is another item in the same list, at the same level.

The button for the paragraph’s kind of list is highlighted while the caret is in a list item.

Turn list items back into paragraphs

1. Put the caret in the item.
2. Click the highlighted button — Bulleted list or Numbered list — again.

The paragraph becomes an ordinary paragraph at the left margin. To end a list, press Return after the last item, then turn the list off for the new, empty paragraph in the same way.

Nest items

A list has nine levels. Each level counts on its own: going back out to a shallower level restarts the numbering of the levels below it, so the second group of sub-items starts at 1 again.

Choose how a list counts

1. Put the caret in a list item.
2. Click the How this list counts list in the Paragraph group.
3. Choose a format.

Choosing a format gives the item at the caret a list of its own, in that format, starting at 1. Items you add after it with Return belong to the new list.

The list control shows the format of the item at the caret. When the caret isn’t in a list, it shows the bullet choice.

Restart numbering at 1

Numbered lists you make with the Numbered list button share one sequence through the document. A second list further down carries on counting from the first. To start a list again at 1:

1. Put the caret in the item that should be number 1.
2. Click the restart button in the Paragraph group (Start this list again at 1).

The item gets a new list that keeps its current format and starts at 1. As with choosing a format, items you add after it with Return follow the new list.

The restart button works only in a numbered list. In a bulleted list its tooltip says “Only a numbered list can be restarted”.

How Writer numbers lists

Word doesn’t store the number shown in front of each item. It stores a list definition — the format of each level, the text around the number and the number to start from — and each program works the numbers out. Writer does the same:

• A number counts every item of the same list above it at the same level.
• A list that starts at a number other than 1 in Word starts there in Writer too.
• Multi-level numbering from Word, such as legal numbering “1.1.i”, is drawn as the document defines it, with each part in its own level’s format.
• Two lists in a Word document that use separate definitions count separately.
• Bullets from Word that use the Symbol font are drawn as ordinary bullet characters.

Lists in exports and printing